Welcome to 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow!! Some posts may be seen as offensive. Posting is at 10AM and 2PM CST daily. Four days of posts are on the main page. The archives have more. You can forward posts by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the post. Enjoy your stay! *** If you need to contact me, or have a copyright issue, please use the "Contact The Wizard" form on the right side of 'OZ'. Original source and author is cited and credited in each post where possible. ***

***Disclaimer***

***Disclaimer: The Wizard of 'OZ' makes no money at all from 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow. 'OZ' is 100 % ad-free***

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Besen: Words that kill

It’s been a heady couple of weeks for gay activists ­ and it keeps getting better. There were twin marriage victories in the unlikely states of Vermont and Iowa doubling the number of places where gay people can get hitched. If that wasn’t enough, the New York Times reports that New York Gov. David Paterson will unveil plans this week to introduce marriage equality legislation.

On New York City’s Upper West Side, The Jewish Alliance for Change presented a benefit concert on Monday evening for marriage equality that featured a stunning array of stars. I spoke at the event and followed Linda Lavin ­ who played the lead in the television show Alice. It was exhilarating to be among the Broadway glitz and glamour. Most important, the event encapsulated what the movement has worked decades to achieve: broad mainstream support and cultural acceptance.

Unfortunately, while our movement bathed in the well-deserved spotlight, not everyone felt its warm glow. There are still gay people ­particularly of school age who feel the cool sting of homophobia. They are teased, harassed, humiliated and beaten on a daily basis. They enter the schoolyard in sheer terror ­as if it were a prison yard ruled by fearsome gangs.

Teachers ­- who are supposed to be in charge - act no better than prison guards, indifferent to the pain and suffering. The cries of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students often fall on deaf ears. It is a living Hell and one that too often ends in tragedy.

In 1998, I remember an effeminate male student in high school who was teased mercilessly. He was assaulted verbally and physically ­ and it got so bad he had to drop out. Teachers who allowed bullies to ruin his life curtailed his right to an education.

Thanks to groups like the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) much has changed. There are many openly gay GLBT students who have uneventful ­ if not enjoyable ­ high school experiences.

Still, if a student ends up in the wrong school ­ it might as well be 1988 (or even 1958). One such student is Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover. He was an 11-year-old boy who was taunted by bullies who repeatedly called him gay. On April 6, he hung himself in his Springfield, Mass. home.

It is heartbreaking to hear Sirdeaner Walker, Carl's mother, talk about her son’s death. She did everything in her power to alert the school and they failed to intervene.

“I have been homeless, but Carl made it through,” Walker told ABC News. “I was a victim of domestic violence, and we made it through. The one thing we couldn’t get through was public school.”

Last week, parents in Ohio sued a high school after their son, who did not claim to be gay, shot himself after bullies clobbered him with anti-gay epithets. This problem is as pervasive as it is perverse. It is an open secret and offhandedly dismissed, as “boys will be boys.” Of course, this response comes from the boys actually throwing the slurs and punches and not the victims and their families.

Equally tragic is that this problem is not considered a major story in the mainstream media. We are treated to countless hours of babbling baloney and blithering buffoonery ­ but the preventable suicide by an 11-year-old boy is considered an afterthought.

In my view, this tragedy should be on the front page of every newspaper in the nation. Satellite trucks should be parked in front of Ms. Walker’s home to address a serious issue that affects far more people than stories about the latest star in rehab.

On Friday, April 17, students across the nation will participate in GLSEN’s 13th annual National Day of Silence, where they will take a one-day vow of silence to shine a light on anti-gay bullying. More than 8,000 schools are expected to participate in this incredible show of solidarity.

Now, if the media will just end its “century of silence” and elevate this issue, we might see less eleven year olds committing suicide.

Loyal 'OZ' Followers

Feedblitz Subscribe

Follow 'OZ' by Email

The time for change is now.

About The Wizard...

I was born September 12, 1962 in St. Boniface, MB Canada. I live in Saskatoon, SK. I have one child, a son, of whom I am incredibly proud. I attended Royal school in Charleswood and after a couple of years at St. Paul's High School, I graduated from Shaftesbury High. I attended Red River Community College in Winnipeg and received a certificate in Business Administration, with a Major in Marketing and Management. I attended the University of Manitoba, earning multiple certifications in LAN Administration and industry credentials from Novell, (CNA); Microsoft, (MCP); and CompTia, (A+). February 25, 2002 was an important turning point in my life and I was re-born.

You REALLY Curious?

Then go ahead! Just watch out for The Wicked Witch!

Find the truth at 'OZ'

'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow

Click Here To Go To Top

-

Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onward you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed. --Eileen Caddy